Today's News

Editor’s Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record. The listings are complete.
The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing.
For information on this column or questions, call 236-5178, ext. 213.

Land Transfers

These land transfers were recorded Dec. 21, 2012-Jan. 9, 2013, in the office of Carolyn H. Honeycutt, clerk of the Carroll County Circuit Court, Hillsville:

Duplicating services
I would like to know if Carroll County is in such a shortfall on the school board budget, why they are paying for two separate buses for sports to go to one location. Why are they even paying for cheerleaders to have a bus and driver to begin with? Why are we outsourcing mowing when we have janitors and the maintenance crew? Why are we sending school buses [out of town] and cars to local garages when we have approximately two to three mechanics in the bus garage?

WYTHEVILLE — A 44-year-old commercial truck driver from Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty in an Oct. 30 wreck that killed a Hillsville man.
Virginia State Police charged Donald Ray Alexander with involuntary manslaughter in a vehicle after the driver attempted to use a crossover on Interstate 77 near the 44 mile marker.
He was trying to change from the northbound lanes to go southbound when his flatbed tractor-trailer pulled into the path of a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, driven by John Schrader, 56, of Hillsville, according to an accident report.

Luke Hampton, an Alleghany County wrestler paralyzed after his spine was injured during a match, is now running his own business and training young grapplers. On Sunday, a free concert in Sparta, N.C., will benefit Alleghany Special Olympics in honor of Hampton.

INDEPENDENCE ― A meeting is planned for June 6 to discuss plans to open a prison ministry at the new River North Correctional Center in Independence.
According to reports, neither the Virginia Department of Corrections nor Chaplain Service Prison Ministry of Virginia has funds to place a chaplain at the prison.
The Rev. Terri Gregory, pastor of the Independence United Methodist Church, said plans are to organize a “River North Ministry Council” made up of ministers and laypeople in the surrounding counties of Virginia and North Carolina.

Incredibly silly
This is in response to the lady that wanted the Town of Hillsville to put an ordinance against jake brakes for truck drivers. We really don’t have many truck drivers in town unless there is a tragedy on Interstate 77. You know there are so many things in this world that we could all be worried about and that just seems incredibly silly to me. I wish all drivers — independent, company drivers — would stop just for one week. They would be begging to hear a truck driver’s jake brake. Thank you for the Hotline.

INDEPENDENCE – Grayson County has managed to close the deficit in next year’s budget without a tax increase, dipping into its reserve account or affecting any core services.
County Administrator Jonathan Sweet said the board’s two favorite words last week when he told supervisors there was a “balanced budget.”
Though the supervisors began budget talks facing a potential $1.4 million shortfall between requested expenditures and projected revenues, the county staff able to close that gap.

BLACKSBURG — While certain areas of Virginia are abuzz with the sound of cicadas, the Twin Counties will stay relatively quiet on that front.
The arrival of the 17-year wave of the noisy and colorful cicadas — different than the annual summer brood of insects — has been much dreaded, but Virginia Tech Entomologist Eric Day says that Twin County residents shouldn’t have to stuff too much cotton in their ears to block the buzzing.